Bouncing Back Postpartum

First off…. I hate that saying.. “bouncing back”after pregnancy. If you’ve ever been pregnant and given birth you know you are NEVER the same as you were before pregnancy; physically and emotionally.

It’s an amazing thing that the female body can grow and carry a baby, birth the baby, then continue to feed the baby!

If I had any advice for a new mom it would be to be patient with your self and don’t have expectation about what you want your body to look like a few months after giving birth.

Say it with me… “everybody’s BODY is DIFFERENT” so do NOT compare yourself to anyone. Please please please DO NOT listen to the influencer who is telling you how they are at their pre-pregnancy weight 5 months postpartum. Ugh they make me sick…

Here is a fun fact about pregnancy that I learned in one of my Nutrition classes at college: when you are pregnant your body stores fat so that when you have your baby your body can tap into those fat stores to be able to have the energy needed to breast feed your baby. It takes an extra 500-700 calories per day to breastfeed a baby. It’s recommended to breastfeed a child for two years (if you want to of course). That requires a lot of energy. Therefore it’s important not to focus on loosing weight postpartum. Focus on fueling your body nourishing foods, prioritizing getting enough sleep and help heal your body by exercising intending to strengthen your body.

Remember everyone is different and has different goals. Some people don’t breastfeed because of health reasons or supplement with formula and that’s just fine. I believe it’s still important to make the focus of your health eating nourishing foods, prioritizing enough sleep and exercising to get stronger postpartum.

This is just something that has been on my mind a lot lately being 9 months postpartum with 2 kids two and under.

Be careful of the “health” influencer you are listening to. Sometimes (a lot of the times) they are teaching disordered behaviors.

Thanks for reading my rant! I just wish every momma would take this advice and be patient and proud of their bodies and not feel pressure to “bounce back” after pregnancy.